LINK Arkitektur has revealed the design of a school that integrates the local climate conditions and challenges within the educational process. Located in Torslanda near Gothenburg, Sweden, where it rains every other day during the school year, the project uses water as a resource for both play and learning, taking a disruptive situation and turning it into an opportunity for understanding nature and the state of the environment.
Acknowledging the issue of increasing rains as a consequence of climate change, the design strategy places great emphasis on the landscape, which makes up two-thirds of the project’s gross area. Within this approach, water plays an important role, creating connections between the building and its surroundings. Runoff water from the roof is released in the middle of the schoolyard and into a “river delta”. The designers aim for educational activities to be held within this area, with teachers conducting biology, physics or chemistry projects relating to water and the landscape elements.
We have designed a solution where water plays a visible and vital role in providing the kids with knowledge and hands-on experience about climate change in general and water in particular. Through play, the children are learning about cloudburst, floods, infiltration, and seepage. The long-term objective is to teach the children universal knowledge and understanding about natural processes by giving them local experiences in the schoolyard. Simply put, we want to create the most fun schoolyard when it rains. By nudging the pupils to better understand natural processes, we equip them with better tools and knowledge to work with nature and not against it. - Camilla Starkenberg
The school comprises two volumes linked by a social space, a more transparent structure that creates visual connections with the outdoors. The ground floor contains common areas and training facilities placed around an inner courtyard, while the two upper floors are dedicated to classrooms. The project also features roof terraces and elevated play areas.
- Completion Year: November 2022
- Gross Built Area: Construction 8.300 m2, Landscape 16.600 m2
- Project location: Torslanda, Sweden
- Lead Architects: Camilla Starkenberg
- Landscape architect and rainwater expert: Erle Stenberg
